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Compiling the linux kernel

Posted onNovember 9, 2019November 19, 2019Leave a comment

In the last article, I said that compiling and installing source versions of software was akin to “going rogue”. I must confess that I have compiled from source and installed software that wasn’t in my distribution, most recently TexStudio, as Continue Reading

CategoriesMath

The next step for Linux development

Posted onOctober 29, 2019November 7, 2019Leave a comment

As you might know, there are nearly 300 Linux distributions (currently 289– low in historical terms), and this is a testament to how successful the Linux kernel has become on the PC, as well as other devices, especially in relation Continue Reading

CategoriesMath

Loving your enemies

Posted onSeptember 22, 2019October 20, 2019Leave a comment

Over the past 4 years of living in my apartment high above the city, I have had to share my balcony with a number of freeloading pigeons. That may not be so bad, except they poop profusely, and leave me Continue Reading

CategoriesMathTagsbird population, bird population in decline, invasive species, North American pigeons, pigeons

Statistical factoids which are actually true

Posted onAugust 15, 2019August 15, 2019

I have often discussed with my students about the hilarity that ensues when one conflates correlation with causation. The lesson, of course, is that they should never be confused, otherwise you can conclude things like “World hunger is caused by Continue Reading

CategoriesMath, softwareTagscausation, correlation, linear scatterplot, statistics, time series

The greatest advance in computer technology

Posted onAugust 7, 2019August 7, 2019

My three HP laptops I have serve as latter-day museum pieces of how technology has progressed. I am not trying to slag Hewlett-Packard. I like their printers, and despite their reputation, I also like their laptops. Today, I am mentioning Continue Reading

CategoriesComputers, ripoffs, softwareTagsfeature removal, HP Notebooks, Laptops, marketing

A short problem

Posted onJune 12, 2019August 31, 2019

This math problem had me going for a bit. Looked at from a distance, it looked like one thing; and when I had the occasion to sit down and hash it out, it was quite another. A student submitted a Continue Reading

CategoriesMathTagsdice, expectation, Games, math, probability

What is “universal” about USB?

Posted onMay 30, 2019June 16, 2019

I am one of those hopeless romantics who believe that words must mean something. “Universal” is quite a stong word when used, and its all-encompassing reach implies that it is good for … well, everything. As in the whole universe Continue Reading

CategoriesComputers, ripoffs

Technology in Mathematics: Chalk

Posted onMay 4, 2019May 22, 20192 Comments

First off, May the Fourth be with you! (Had to get that in there…) Chalk still stands out as the technology of choice of mathematicians everywhere. Those of us forced to use whiteboards realize the wisdom of the ancients once Continue Reading

CategoriesMath

The infinite sum which equals -1/12

Posted onJanuary 1, 2019September 22, 2019

On 16 January, 1913, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a clerk living in Madras, India, sent a letter to Oxford professor Godfrey Harold Hardy, which contained many of his intuitive mathematical musings, one of which led to the conclusion: In normal mathematics, this Continue Reading

CategoriesMathTagsconvergent, divergent, Hardy, Ramanujan, summation

Update on Tex editors

Posted onDecember 1, 2018December 2, 20182 Comments

Nearly three years ago, I wrote about a comparison of LaTeX editors. Soon after, I began to use a third editor which, if you are a latex expert, you almost certaintly would have heard about, and are probably in fact Continue Reading

CategoriesMath, softwareTagsCygwin, editors, Latex, Windows

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  • Compiling the linux kernel
  • The next step for Linux development
  • Loving your enemies
  • Paraskevidekatriaphobia
  • Statistical factoids which are actually true
  • The greatest advance in computer technology
  • A short problem
  • What is “universal” about USB?
  • Technology in Mathematics: Chalk
  • The infinite sum which equals -1/12

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